


Back in Time

by violetwolfraven



Category: The Umbrella Academy
Genre: F/M, Fighting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Protective Siblings, Sass, denying feelings, powers, reference to past childhood abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2020-03-01 08:02:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18796270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetwolfraven/pseuds/violetwolfraven
Summary: After the events of season 1, the Umbrella Academy kids go back in time to 2004, where Five reveals that the personality of mannequin Delores wasn’t totally made up. (This is an AU. My universe, my rules.)





	1. Chapter 1

Landing in some unknown time and place, Five almost passed out from exhaustion.  
Time traveling alone was hard enough, but traveling with his siblings? Damn near impossible. And, he’d accidentally turned them all into teenagers.  
He probably would have passed out right then and there if not for Allison’s shocked gasp.  
“Ben?”  
Five was suddenly wide awake, staring at his brother, who was standing right there, alive.  
“You can see him, too?” Klaus asked incredulously.  
“I’m alive?” Ben asked.  
“Your body is thirteen,” Five realized, “You haven’t died yet!”  
They all stood there in shock for a good five seconds before Klaus moved first, grabbing their brother in a desperate embrace that they all took up. Five wasn’t sure how many of them were crying. He knew he’d be lying if he said he didn’t shed a couple tears, himself.  
“So, where are we?” Luther asked when they pulled apart.  
Five shrugged, looking around, “I’m not sure. I wasn’t thinking of anywhere in particular when I jumped except ‘safe.’ Wait...”  
Five recognized this place.  
He knew he’d always felt safe here. This was the one place he’d always felt completely safe.  
The only problem was... What year was it?  
Five jumped away, finding a newspaper stand and frantically grabbing one to check the date.  
June 4th, 2004. Exactly two years since he’d disappeared. Gone to the future in the first place.  
Chronologically, exactly one year and 366 days since he’d last seen her.  
Five jumped back to his siblings grimly, “I know exactly when and where we are. And I know where we can get help.”  
“Where?” Luther asked, looking puzzled, “This looks like the park, but we can’t go back to the Academy; the younger versions of us would be there, too.”  
“I know,” Five said, “And it’s not so much of where we could go as who we can go to.”  
“Who?” Klaus asked.  
Five smiled sadly, “A girl like us. At his point in the timeline, she’ll be 15. Her name is Delores.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So who is this girl?” Luther asked.  
“Isn’t it obvious?” Allison asked with a smirk, “Five has a crush on her.”  
Klaus sniggered, “You mean you and Vanya were actually right when you thought he had a crush when we were little? I totally thought it was bullshit!”  
“Speaking of Vanya,” Luther said, “What are we going to do with her?”  
“What do you mean?” Allison asked harshly, “When she wakes up, we’re going to help her. And we’re going to accept her for who she is.”  
“She almost killed you,” Luther pointed out, “And she blew up the moon.”  
“Yeah, because we pushed her,” Allison shot back, “She didn’t mean to.”  
“Not to mention, she’d just gotten off some pretty strong drugs,” Klaus added, “Trust me. Withdrawal can mess you up real bad.”  
“And no matter what you say, we are not locking her up again,” Diego said forcefully.  
Luther put his hands up, “Look, we just need to consider all the variables. I’m not saying it’s her fault, but she is dangerous.”  
“If traveling back in time brought me back to life and healed Allison’s throat,” Ben said thoughtfully, “Wouldn’t that mean the drugs Dad put her on would still be in her system?”  
“Yeah,” Five comfirmed, “It would. We should have at least a couple days to talk her through everything before she gets her abilities back.”  
Luther nodded, “Okay. That’s fair.”  
“Wake her up,” Diego told Allison.   
Allison took a deep breath, “I heard a rumor...” her voice echoed, “That you woke up right now.”  
Vanya’s face twitched and she gasped, sitting bolt upright and almost smashing heads with Klaus.   
“Vanya?” Allison asked gently, “Are you okay?”  
Vanya gasped softly, staring at her sister, “Allison?”  
“Yeah, I’m here. It’s okay.”  
“Why do you look so young?”  
“We travelled back in time to stop the apocalypse. It’s a long story. The important thing is that you’re safe.”  
Vanya started crying, “I’m so sorry, Allison! I didn’t mean to hurt you! I didn’t mean it!”  
“Shh! Shh!” Allison hugged Vanya, “I know. I know. Your music sounded really good, by the way.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. I haven’t heard you play in years, and you’re really good. I liked it.”  
“We all did,” Ben put in, and even Luther nodded appreciatively.  
“Ben?”  
While the others filled Vanya in, Five spaced out. He couldn’t stop thinking about Delores. The last time he had seen her was... over 45 years ago, on his end. On hers, it was only 2, but since she didn’t know what he did, that would seem like a long time to her.   
8 days ago, Five had been worried enough about what his siblings would think of seeing him again. Delores? She was headstrong, opinionated, and stubborn. Even if she could look in his head to see what had happened, she might be so pissed that she wouldn’t be willing to try.  
“So, Five,” Luther said, pulling him out of his thoughts, “Where’s your girlfriend?”  
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Five snapped, “Sure, I snuck out to see her a couple times, but— “  
“Bro,” Allison interrupted with a grin, “She was totally your girlfriend.”  
“That’s what it sounds like to me, too,” Vanya admitted, “I mean, I noticed you sneaked out way back when, but I was always joking when I said I thought you had a secret girlfriend.”  
“She wasn’t my girlfriend!” Five insisted, “Delores was just a friend!”  
“You said she was like us,” Ben noted, “What can she do?”  
“She’s telepathic,” Five explained, glad to have something else to talk about, “She can read people’s thoughts, let other people read hers, even control minds if she concentrates hard enough.”  
Klaus whistled, “Geez, how did you ever hide anything from her?”  
“Who says I wanted to? She was my best friend.”  
“Seems like she was a little more than that,” Diego said.  
“That weirdness aside,” Luther said with a smirk, “Where is she?”  
Five sighed, “Right there.”  
He pointed to a girl sitting on a park bench, watching the birds in the trees.  
The redhead looked only a little different than Five remembered. She’d only gotten a little taller, her hair was a little longer, but even from a distance, Five could tell that her green eyes hadn’t changed at all. They still held the weight that came with knowing everyone’s secrets, along with a sort of sadness from carrying everyone’s pain. Beyond a few freckles, her face had barely changed at all. She looked more mature, he guessed, but still beautiful.   
Damn. He was not helping himself deny his siblings’ accusations of him having a crush on her, here.   
“Well, go talk to her,” Diego said, as if it was easy.  
Five hesitated, and unfortunately, his brother noticed.   
“Hey,” Diego said, uncharacteristicaly gently, “It’s okay to be nervous.”  
“I’m not nervous,” Five snapped.  
Diego ignored him, “I felt the same way when I first met Eudora. I was always scared she would think what I said was stupid.”  
“I’m sure you were,” Five said flatly.  
Diego rolled his eyes, “The point is, girls like you best when you’re yourself.”  
“It’s true,” Allison put in.  
“I’m in no position to give input,” Vanya admitted, “But yeah. The only crush I ever had was because I thought he was honest with me.”  
Five took a deep breath, “Fine. I’ll go talk to her.”  
...  
Five walked up behind the bench, keeping his eyes carefully trained on Delores’s wavy braid. He knew he couldn’t look at what little he could see of her face without losing his nerve.   
“People can’t sneak up on me that easily,” she said before he’d even gotten close.  
Five took a deep breath, “I know.”   
Delores froze.  
“At least,” Five added, “I know I never could.”  
Delores turned around, staring at his face in a way that simultaneously made Five want to jump away and jump towards her.  
“Five?” She whispered in disbelief, standing up.   
Five wanted to say something as she walked towards him, but the words died. He didn’t know what to say. He had no idea what to do. It was like he was paralyzed, though he could sense Delores wasn’t currently using her abilities.  
It turned out, he didn’t need to as Delores put her hand up to the side of his face, as if confirming he was really there.   
Five leaned into the touch. He’d thought he’d managed to let her go when he’d let go of the mannequin Delores, but now... he could really feel how much he’d missed her.   
“Five?” Delores asked again.  
“It’s me,” he assured her, “It’s me.”  
Delores suddenly pulled back and punched him in the face, making him stumble backward.   
“Ouch,” he heard Klaus say from the group of trees his siblings were standing behind.  
“Didn’t see that coming,” Diego agreed.  
“Five Hargreeves!” Delores exclaimed, “You have been gone for two. years! You told me you’d see me in a week! That was not okay!”  
Five had one hand over the bruise he could feel forming on his cheek, but he put his free hand up, “I know! And I’m really sorry, but— “  
“I don’t want to hear it!” Delores interrupted, “I’d understand you running away, but you could have at least contacted me! I reached out with my telepathy and I got nothing! Where were you? I was sure you were dead!”   
“I know,” Five said softly, “I know, and I can tell that I hurt you, but can you please listen to what I have to say?”  
“Why should I?”   
“Because you’re curious to know why you couldn’t sense me.”  
Delores sighed, “Fine. You have five minutes. If I don’t hear a reasonable excuse, I walk. And you will never see me again.”  
“I was in the future,” Five explained, “Time travel is unpredictable, and I got stuck. I was there for 45 years. When I finally managed to get back as far as 2019, I accidentally changed my body back into a 13-year-old. I’ve only been back in civilization for 8 days, because the future is an apocalypse, which me and my siblings are trying to prevent. Look in my head. Tell me I’m lying.”  
Five took a step closer to his former friend, and felt a prick of hurt when she stepped back to get away.  
“I don’t have to do that anymore,” she explained, “It’s been 2 years. I’ve gotten stronger.”  
Keeping him at arms length, Delores put a hand on Five’s temple and used her ability to see what he wanted to show her.   
Five used all the mental willpower he could to hide too much of the painful stuff. As much as he wanted Delores to believe him, he didn’t want to cause her any more pain than he had to.  
Five had never been that good at hiding things from Delores. But after 45 years of hell, he knew his mind was stronger.  
She pulled away with a surprised gasp.  
“That was...” Delores took a deep breath, “A lot. All that pain... how could you go through it alone?”  
“I imagined I had you,” Five said truthfully.  
Delores caught her breath and hugged Five tightly. Five hugged back, trying not to cry at how much he’d missed her.   
But also trying not to let anyone, her included, know what he really felt for her.  
“Will you help us?” He asked, knowing she knew what he was talking about.   
Delores nodded, “Of course.”


	3. Chapter 3

Delores led them to the abandoned building she was squatting in, and Five couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. She’d been living like this since her mom died?  
“I know it’s not much,” she said awkwardly, “But it’s home. For me, at least.”  
“We’re grateful you’re letting us stay at all,” Luther said, sounding genuine, “Mind if the rest of us have a word?”  
“I’ll uh...” Delores snuck a glance over at Five, “Go rob the mall or something. Y’all aren’t going to be very inconspicuous in those uniforms.”  
She left the room pretty quickly.  
“So, what’s the plan for stopping the apocalypse?” Five asked, “I mean, I had one, but we already tried it, so...”  
“That’s not what I wanted to talk about,” Luther said, “I wanted to talk about you. The fact that you have a girlfriend you never told any of us about.”  
“First, she’s not my girlfriend,” Five said, “Second, I hid her to protect her. You know how Dad was. A rebellious, headstrong girl like her; she never would have survived.”  
“Considering the fact that you’re, well, you,” Klaus said, “I think she would have been fine.”  
“To be honest, I would have thought you’d at least tell Vanya,” Diego admitted, “Van..?”  
“He never told me anything,” Vanya confirmed, “I’m as surprised as the rest of you.”  
“He was trying to protect her,” Allison said, for the first time, not looking like she was teasing, “Diego, don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing for Eudora Patch if she was one of us.”  
“That begs the question,” Klaus mused, “Even with Delores, that’s only eight. Where are the rest of us? Think they’re just off killing time like normal kids, or what?”  
“Klaus,” Ben said, “In the nicest way possible, how high are you?”  
“Judging by the fact that I’m in my early teens, hella.”  
“Great,” Luther muttered, “Well, Five, I guess what I’m really asking, is... what else are you hiding?”  
“What? Nothing.”  
“That’s what we thought before.”  
Five shrugged, “Remember that vigilante we could never find back in the early 2000’s? That was Delores and I knew it. That’s all I can think of at the moment. If you want to talk about secrets, though, you really shouldn’t be asking me.”  
Klaus shot him a warning look, but Five didn’t have any plans to spill what little of his brother’s crap that he knew.  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Luther asked, looking strangely guarded.  
Suddenly, the door was blown in, soldiers in uniforms Five recognized pouring in and opening fire.  
Six of the seven of them barely had enough time to dive through another door, Ben immediately stepping forward to get rid of the attackers.  
“You know those guys?” Diego asked, looking mildly pissed.  
“Looks like my old boss isn’t happy about us coming back here,” Five said gravely as Ben ran back with them, covered in blood and clutching a bullet graze on his arm.  
“I can’t take all of them!” He gasped.  
Diego threw a knife around the doorway as Luther slammed the door shut and shoved some old tables in front of it.  
“How did they find us?” Allison asked.  
Five laughed harshly, “They’ll always find us.”  
On that cheerful note, they all were silent for a few seconds.  
“I can’t use my powers,” Vanya muttered, frustrated, “I’ll be useless in this fight.”  
“No more useless than you were when we were actually kids,” Five said distractedly, trying to think of a plan.  
The Handler knew enough to send only her best troops to try to bring in or kill just him. With his siblings by his side, she was smart enough to know he’d be six times stronger, which meant she’d send in... no.  
“We need to get out of here,” Five said urgently.  
All of the other six looked at him weird.  
“You want to toss the fight?” Diego asked.  
“Oh, you heard him say that, too?” Klaus asked.  
“Trust me, we can’t handle them,” Five saif urgently, “Everyone grab hands; I’ll teleport us out.”  
Vanya was the only one who hadn’t done it before, and she looked mildly confused as they all stood in a circle holding hands in number order, and a bit uncomfortable to be holding hands with Luther.  
“Wait, what about Delores?” Diego asked.   
“I’ll come back for her,” Five muttered, teleporting his siblings to safety.


	4. Chapter 4

Five managed to teleport his siblings away without passing out, but by the time he got himself back there, he definitely wasn’t doing so good. The gunmen weren’t in the hallway he’d landed in, but—

Someone yanked him around the corner and Five snapped to attention.

“Hey! It’s me!” Delores hissed, “I came back here when I heard gunshots; who the hell are those guys?”

”Bad guys,” Five said gravely, “Bad guys we can’t handle.”

Delores didn’t take long to realize he was serious. 

“You’re too drained to blink us out of here,” she muttered in a distracted tone, “Are your siblings..?”

”They’re safe.”

”Good,” Delores took a few steps down the hallway and peeked around the corner, “It’s going to be hard enough getting just the two of us out of here.”

“How  _are_ we going to get out of here?” Five asked. He tried to walk over to Delores, but took one step and would have fell on his face if she hadn’t caught him.

”You’re really drained,” she mumbled under her breath. Five knew her well enough to know she was thinking, but he couldn’t tell what. He was _so_ _tired_.

Delores pulled Five’s arm around her shoulder and half-dragged him into an empty room, setting him down right by the door. 

“Stay here,” she said firmly.

”What? Why?” Five was finding it reall hard to process much of anything.

”I need to go see what we’re dealing with,” Delores said simply, “Now stay here.”

Five didn’t have the energy to go anywhere, even if he wanted to. Actually, all he really wanted to do right now was sleep. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been this exhausted.

”Five?”

It simultaneously felt like a million years and a couple seconds had passed when Delores’s concerned face came back into view. 

“Delores?” He groaned.

”I have a safe path out of here,” she said firmly, “But I can’t hold it forever. I need you to help me. Can you stand?”

Five nodded, even though he had no idea if he actually could stand. He honestly had no idea how much of his body weight he was putting on his friend. 

As they stumbled down the hallway, Five vaguely registered a couple of the soldiers standing in the hallway, still as statues.

”Are you doing that?” He asked, “And—“

”And carrying your ass out?” Delores grunted, “Yeah, I am. You’re a lot heavier than you look.”

”You couldn’t do that when I saw you last.”

Five couldn’t tell if she was just out of it it from the strain of doing two things at once, or Delores actually avoiding meeting his eyes.

“Yeah, well, like I said; I’ve gotten stronger.”

A third soldier came around the corner and Delores pushed Five against the wall.

Strangely, the soldier didn’t seem to see them. He just stood there, gun lowered, examining his frozen friends with curiousity and concern.

Five was about to say something when Delores clamped her hand over his mouth, shaking her head. Her forehead was beaded with sweat and it was at that moment that Five made the connection. 

The soldier couldn’t see them. Delores was using her abilities to do two things at once  _and_ physically supporting Five. 

...how the hell had she gotten this strong?

The soldier spoke into his radio, “I need backup in the east hallway. Violet and Phoenix are... I need backup. I’ll meet you halfway and lead you here.”

As the soldier stalked off down the hallway, Delores exhaled like she’d been holding her breath and stumbled, this time Five having to support her. 

“How did you do that?” Five asked, “Freezing those guys and controlling the third one’s vision at the same time—how did you do that?”

”I’m stronger now,” she said, panting.

”None of my siblings’ abilities ever got that much stronger in 2 years,” Five insisted, “And mine sure as hell didn’t in 45.”

”It’s none of your business,” Delores retorted, “It doesn’t matter. Now let’s get out of here.”

Five couldn’t help but feel that this definitely did matter. 


	5. Chapter 5

“We called them the Leviathans,” Five explained.

It was almost five hours later, once both him and Delores had gotten some sleep and food, which Klaus and Diego may or may not have stolen from somewhere.

”Who are they?” Luther asked.

Five shrugged, “No one knows. All I know is that there’s six of them. That they go by code names; Violet, Phoenix, Lost Boy, Lark, Blast, and Circe...And that they are the most dangerous people on the planet in this time or any other.”  
“Define ‘most dangerous?’” Klaus requested.  
“They each have more kills than everyone in this room combined,” Five clarified, “And Circe, their leader? She’s the worst of them all. She has no morals, no regard for human life... she makes me look like a little kid throwing water balloons.”  
“Great,” Allison muttered, “So, we’re stuck in the bodies of our thirteen-year-old selves, Vanya and Klaus can’t even access their powers, and we’re being hunted by the most dangerous people in the world.”  
“Basically,” Five agreed.  
“Well, I know some places where we can hide out,” Delores said, “But it took those guys what?—an hour? to find you? So I wouldn’t bet on anywhere being safe.”  
“She’s right,” Five said, “There’s only one way to prevent the Leviathans from finding us.”

“And what’s that?” Vanya asked.

”I mean, you literally  _just_ said that we can’t handle them,” Ben agreed.

Five shrugged, “We can’t handle all of them at once. But if we convince Circe to try to fight me one-on-one, and then we all attack her all at once, we have a chance.”

”Hang on,” Luther said, “That doesn’t sound fair.”

”We don’t have time to fight fair, Luther!” Five exclaimed, exasperated, “You think the Leviathans won’t be planning something similar? The only way we survive this is if we cheat them first.”

”We don’t know these freaks, anyway,” Diego agreed, “Why the hell do we care if we’re cheating in a fight against them, anyway?”

“I thought we were supposed to be the good guys,” Luther muttered.

”Sometimes you gotta fight messy,” Diego said, “Since you refuse to, maybe that’s why you keep losing your battles.”

“This argument isn’t helping us,” Delores pointed out, “Do you have a way to contact Circe?”

Five shrugged, “I’ve got a way that might lead to a way.”

”Look, even if we do this,” Luther said, “We still need to know if it’ll even work. Can all of us beat this Circe person?”

Everyone looked to Five for confirmation.

In reality, Five has no idea if this would work. But he only had one plan, and if it failed, everyone he loved would die. 

The faces of his sisters and brothers were filled with doubt. Five could tell that no matter how hard they tried to hide it. They were unsure. They knew that Five had lied to them before. Even if he told them he was sure the plan would work, they’d be smart to doubt him. 

Delores looked at him calmly, her face completely unreadable. As he looked at her, her face softened a bit. 

_“Do what you think is right,”_ she said in his mind.

_”What if I don’t know what that is?”_ Five wondered helplessly. He couldn’t hide from her how afraid he was that making the wrong decision could get the people he loved killed.

The smallest smile crossed Delores’s face. 

_“Do what you always do,”_ she said telepathically,  _“Think it through. Find the right solution. I trust you.”_

Five took a deep breath, starting to think things through.

“Are you two having a telepathic conversation?” Klaus asked suddenly, “Cause a) that’s awesome, b) that’s a little bit rude, and c) I hope you’re keeping it PG in there.”

”Does he have _any_ filter?” Delores asked, directing the question at the other siblings.

The others shrugged, a couple people shaking their heads.

”No, not really,” Diego said flatly.

”Oh, he does,” Ben put in, “Around you guys, he’s only about 90% weird, but when you guys  _aren’t_ around... I was dead. I stuck around even when he got high cause somebody needed to look out for him. I’ve seen some shit.”

”I didn’t need to know that, but okay,” Allison said.

”Can we get back on topic?” Five asked.

The others looked back at him, but Five was only looking at Luther, a challenge in his eyes.

”Yes. My plan will work.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is long-ish, and features Delores’s perspective for the first time.

Five knew that fighting Circe would likely be the hardest thing he’d ever done and ever would do. He’d never met her when he was with the Commission. He’d heard of her at most from stories and rumors; she was even more of a legend than him.

The Leviathans were one of the few things that actually _scared_ Five. He’d always known he could beat any of his siblings in a fight, except _maybe_ Ben, (until Vanya had gotten her powers back, that was) he’d always known that he could protect them from their father, and he’d always known that he was too valuable to the Commission for them to kill him, unless he did something stupid and let them see his true loyalties.

Five didn’t fear anything he could control, or anything he could defeat. That meant that he feared his baby sister a little, feared the apocalypse considerably more, and feared the Handler enough that he knew to stay out of her way if he could. 

And just the idea of the Leviathans scared him, not because they were ruthless killers so much as because they were unknown. Five didn’t know enough about them that he could manipulate or control them, and he had never been sure he could beat any of them. Not with... not with the rumors. 

“Hey.”

Five couldn’t tell if he got more or less tense when Delores approached, having snuck up on him probably without meaning to.

”Hey,” he responded wearily, instantly trying to lock down the worst of his emotions, to hide them from her.

Too late.

”You’re scared,” Delores muttered, “I’ve never felt you this scared before. The Leviathans must be really bad.”

Five sighed, trying to think of the right way to say what he was feeling.

”I don’t like things I can’t control. The Leviathans fall into that category.”

“You’re doing it again.” 

“What?”

”Lying to me. Hiding things. You never even tried to do that. You know, _before_. Those secrets are going to drown you unless you tell someone and we both know you won’t talk to any of your brothers and sisters.”

Five inwardly cursed. He’d never even considered that Delores might be able to tell that he was holding things back. 

“I don’t know if I can talk about it yet,” Five whispered.

The redhead’s eyes softened, “That’s okay. Do you want to be alone?”

Five quickly shook his head, “No.”

”But you don’t want to talk?”

To be honest, he wasn’t sure. He wanted to tell her everything. He was sure she already knew most of it, but... somehow actually telling someone out loud about his trauma made it real. For some reason, it made absolute certain that it all hadn’t been just a bad dream. 

Talking to Delores before had always helped him. Whether it be talking through a nightmare, or something messed up that had happened when he was little, or ranting about his siblings doing stupid things, he’d always felt comfortable with her in a way he never had with anyone, not even Vanya. 

Maybe... maybe there was a little bit of truth in Allison’s teasing.

No. Five couldn’t afford to think like that. He needed to be completely clearheaded when he went up against Circe, and even if he’d rather think about her, Delores sometimes made it hard to think. She didn’t have to be telepathic to get in his head.

He had no idea if she had used her gift to know exactly what he needed, even if he didn’t know, himself. But the longer she talked, the less Five felt like he was falling apart.

“Maybe it was longer on your end, but these last two years have still been lonely,” Delores said quietly, “I’ll admit—I pretended to talk to you. It helped a little, but...” Five felt her fingertips graze his arm, “I’m still convincing myself you’re really here. I keep expecting to wake up.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Five said, keeping his voice as quiet as hers.

“If you’re wrong, I don’t want to wake up,” she admitted, “This feels real. You’re just as frustrating as I remember.”

Five smirked, feeling the tension between them fading into their old banter, “So flattered that you dream of being frustrated by me.”

“Well, when your only friend disappears, you make do,” she said nonchalantly, “At least I didn’t replace you with a mannequin that looks nothing like you.”

Five really hoped his face wasn’t flushed at her teasing.

“I did the best I could with what I had,” he said defensively, “She had green eyes and kind of reminded me of you. Maybe I was just desperate for a friend, but I thought maybe you’d transferred some part of your aura or whatever into her.”

“That isn’t something I can do. At least... I don’t think I can.”

“Well, believing it kept me sane, so sorry, but I’m not sorry.”

A smile flickered across Delores’s face.

“Is this a bad time?” Allison‘s voice asked.

The two turned to see her standing there, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

Five had to admit, it was still strange, seeing her like this. Seeing her as a kid again, even though most of his memories of her were of that kid version of her.

“No,” Five said, “What is it, sis?”

“I was wondering if we could talk,” she said carefully, “Just the two of us, Five.”

Delores shrugged, “I’ll go find you all some normal clothes. Allison, you and Vanya might fit some of the stuff I have stashed in various places, but I’ll need to steal some stuff for the boys.”

“Take someone with you,” Five ordered, “Diego or Ben, preferably.”

She raised an eyebrow in challenge, “Excuse you, Five Hargreeves, are you trying to tell me what to do?”

Five shrugged, trying to hide his smile, “Well, I’d kind of prefer my best friend alive, so it might be in her best interest to take someone with her when she goes out in case the Leviathans come”

Delores shrugged, “Fine. Might be nice to have some company.”

Five waited until she was out of earshot before calling Allison on her smirk.

“Why don’t you just say it and let’s get this conversation over with?”

Allison seemed to be trying to keep from laughing, “It’s funny how you actually think nobody sees the sparks flying between you two.”

“It’s just friendly teasing,” Five argued.

“No, it’s not. Trust me, even if neither of you noticed, you were flirting, and she was flirting back. If this was how your friendship was for months, I’m surprised you never told her how you feel.”

“I don’t love her,” Five insisted, “Not in that way.”

“I never said anything about love,” Allison responded mischievously.

“So, did you come over here to talk about my friend, or do you actually want to have a conversation that’ll go somewhere?” Five asked, hoping to change the subject.

Allison’s teasing smile faded, and Five realized for the first time how much something was bothering her.

Admittedly, Five really didn’t know anything about being a caring brother. But he knew that the look on Allison’s face bothered him, and as confused as he was, he had to try.

“Hey,” he said, trying to seem comforting, “What’s wrong?”

Allison took a deep breath, “It’s... this time travel thing. How much would we affect the present—2019— if we changed anything here?”

“I don’t know,” Five admitted, “This is new to me, too. I know time is constantly in flux, and the slightest change can make the timeline shift drastically. For example, one British soldier decides to drink a little less than his friends, so the next day he’s not hungover, his bullet actually hits his target instead of missing like he’s supposed to. Suddenly, there’s no more Alexander Hamilton. The American Revolution fails, and suddenly there’s no USA. Even if it doesn’t, there’s no federal bank, no New York Post, no two party system...That’s why the Commission always took so much care, making sure they got rid of the exact right person. But also... certain things want to happen no matter what. Time doesn’t like being messed with; that’s why it’s almost impossible to stop the apocalypse even without the Commission’s interference.”

“So even if we change things here, preventing the apocalypse, some things might stay the same?” Allison asked hopefully.

Five shrugged, “It depends on what you wanted to stay the same. For example, if we told Dad to be nice to our younger selves or else, Vanya might be able to learn how to use her powers the right way and Ben might never die, but you, Klaus, and Diego would probably never leave, so Diego would never meet Eudora Patch, Klaus wouldn’t be the lovable idiot we know him as now, and..”

Five’s voice trailed off as he realized. That was what his sister wanted to make sure of. It was so obvious. How could he not have seen it before?

“Claire,” he said out loud, “You want to make sure your daughter is born.”

“It feels weird to talk about me having a daughter while I’m in this body,” Allison mumbled, “But yeah, of course I want to make sure she’s born. I mean, I don’t think I ever loved Patrick—not really, but if I stop myself from going to him, I never get Claire. And if we stop Dad from giving Vanya enough trauma to cause the apocalypse, I never leave in the first place. And if...” Allison took a deep breath, “I’m just scared. There’s so much we could mess up. At this point, she won’t be born for what—ten years?”

“Eleven,” Five corrected, “But yeah, I hear you.”

“What do I do?” Allison asked desperately.

Truth be told, Five had no idea. From what he’d read about his niece in what gossip magazines and books on the Umbrella Academy he could find in the apocalypse, he had wanted to meet her since the moment he found out she existed. He didn’t know how it was possible—to love someone you’d never met, but he did. He wanted to protect her, even having never even seen a clear picture of her.

“We’ll have to be careful,” Five said slowly, “Make sure we don’t involve our younger selves in this, _especially_ you.

”Careful,” Allison muttered in a distracted tone, “Yeah, I can do careful.”

“Good,” Five said.

He didn’t say what it could mean if they messed this up.

...

”So, what’s Five’s mind like? Bet it’s twisted. He’s always been an arrogant little prick, but nowadays he seems like a kitten that thinks of nothing but murder. Jesus Christ, I just realized. We’re all kids now, so that means we’re going to go through puberty again! Oh, god, just kill me now.”

Somehow, Delores had ended up with all five of Five’s other siblings as her escort, which didn’t really make any sense, considering two of them couldn’t currently use their powers.

That, and she was starting to regret letting Ben bring Klaus, considering the guy would not stop talking no matter what.

Delores reminded herself that Diego’s argument was that Vanya and Klaus would be defenseless if left alone. They needed to come for their own safety.

Still, the more of them there were, the harder it was to convince people to look the other way. She constantly had to redirect civilians, whispering suggestions in their brains that, ‘no, these are not the Umbrella Academy kids, your eyes are playing tricks on you, this is just a normal gang of young teenagers wandering through the city, and you should probably stay clear because they might not have super powers but they still look like trouble.’ Suggestion wasn’t one of the bigger things Delores could do, but it took a lot of effort. Reading a mind and convincing it of something it didn’t want to believe were two very different things. 

She was so focused on her efforts that she didn’t even notice Diego was saying her name until he put a hand on her shoulder.

Instantly, Delores was drawn into the outskirts of his mind. Diego Hargreeves was all made up of jealousy and pain. He had built himself around it, tried to harden himself so that he’d never have to feel those things again. Delores hadn’t had to touch him to know that. But having physical contact meant that she felt what was hiding just under the surface; a fierce, almost possessive protective instinct. Diego loved fiercely and would do anything to protect those he loved. To stop them from feeling the pain he had felt. 

All this, she felt in the space of only a few seconds. Delores hoped she didn’t hurt his feelings or anything when she pulled away from his touch.

”What?” She asked.

”What exactly are your intentions with our brother?” 

Diego said the question like he half-expected her to not hear him. Delores tried not to be offended at that, but at the moment was more focused on how all five of the Hargreeves kids were looking at her with an untrusting kind of protectiveness.

It was so cliche she almost laughed.

Almost.

”We’re friends,” Delores said simply, “We were both lonely when we met and we decided we liked having each other around.”

”Nuh-uh, girl,” Klaus said, for once not rambling, “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

It was probably the drugs that made him do it, but Delores still flinched away to avoid him booping her on the nose. She really _didn’t_ need to feel more from him than what little of his fractured psyche she could already perceive.

”He’s happy when he’s around you,” Vanya said, “Happier than I’ve ever seen him.”

”And as great as that is,” Ben finished, “We need to know that you’re not going to use that against him.”

”Because of what happened to you, right?” Delores asked calmly, directing it at Vanya.

She kind of regretted asking when she felt the waves of pain and resentment radiating off the brunette, but it seemed obvious. Of all of them, Vanya was the most worried about Five. She felt terrified in a selfless way, wanting nothing more than to protect her brother from the kind of pain she had experience in.

”Sorry,” Delores amended, “That came out wrong. I guess what you all need to know is that you can trust me. You all love Five and you want him happy. I don’t know how to prove it to you, but Five makes me happy, too. He’s my best friend and I’d never hurt him on purpose.”

Klaus snorted, “Honey, I don’t know what you see in him, but you’ve got it _bad_. Believe me, I’ve been around enough pining lovers to know.”

”That’s not what we are,” Delores insisted, “We’re good friends. That’s it. Ask Five and he’ll tell you the same thing.”

Delores started walking again to stop the Hargreeves siblings from seeing how their questions had made her face burn almost as red as her hair, but she heard them sniggering amongst themselves behind her. They didn’t see her as a threat anymore, at least not most of them, but none of them seemed too convinced by what she’d said.

”She’s just as stubborn as he is,” she heard Luther say to the others.

“They’re perfect for each other,” Klaus agreed.

It was a good thing her back was to them so that none of them could see her blushing.

...

Five was a bit annoyed to find out that him being occupied by Allison had allowed all of his other siblings to go off with Delores to find some normal clothes. If what he remembered from reading in Vanya’s book was any indication, they were probably interrogating her. Apparently, when they all were in their mid teens, Allison or Diego had sometimes brought the others out on fake missions to introduce them to the boy or girl they’d been sneaking out to see. The other five would interrogate that kid and in most cases, scare them away. It was one of the few things they’d let Vanya participate in at that age, seeing strength in numbers and the way Vanya could apparently ask just the right quietly uncomfortable question at just the right time to make the person crack.

Five was a little bitter that he’d never gotten to participate in that. The one thing he’d never liked about reading about Claire was the distinct proof that his older sister had screwed someone to make her, and Five had always wanted to beat that guy up, even if he didn’t quite know why. Also, he’d never liked the idea of a Leonard, even before he’d known  that Vanya had been dating a psychopath. Even the way Klaus had gotten his heart broken by someone he’d met in the 60’s, even though this one had been a good person, made Five want to beat someone up.

He guessed that even if not all of them had been close, they all felt that way. They all didn’t have much besides each other, that made them each more protective than normal siblings.

The more he thought about it, the less he felt bitter and the more he felt sad. He’d missed so much while the others were growing up together. He wondered what would have happened if he’d never gotten stuck.

_A couple of them probably would have interrogated Delores years ago, since I probably would have been comfortable enough to introduce her to Ben and Vanya at least,_ was Five’s first thought, quickly followed by, _What the hell? We weren’t even together. We still aren’t—and I don’t want to be._

But, Five still felt a slight flutter in his stomach as his best friend walked in, followed by all of his siblings besides Allison. They were all wearing more or less normal clothes, most of them a kind of smaller version of what they would normally wear when they were older, besides Luther, who didn’t need that stupid overcoat anymore, and Diego, who, shockingly, probably couldn’t find a kid-sized version of the vigilante outfit his younger self wouldn’t start wearing for at least another two years.

Delores walked straight up to him while the others went up to Allison, and Five noticed his older sister’s approving smile when Vanya pulled a black leather jacket and a bright red dress out of their bag.

”I got you these,” Delores said, holding up a black sweater and some jeans, “And I think Diego has your combat boots—we agreed you might need to kick someone’s teeth in.”

”Did they give you any trouble?” Five asked, knowing they probably had.

Delores shrugged, “They asked some questions, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”

”What’d you tell them?”

”The truth. That we’re friends. You know, how there was a time when we both needed to not feel alone, and then after that, we decided we liked being annoyed by each other.”

Five nodded, “Good. They mean well, but they’re a bit overprotective.”

”Really? Hadn’t noticed, by the way you had told them you had a friend and they automatically thought I was out to seduce you and break your heart.”

”Yo, Five!” 

Five barely managed to catch the box containing the combat boots Diego threw him. 

“You might want to change before we try to contact your serial killer friend!” Klaus added.

Five nodded, trying to ignore the fear that was starting to worm its way into his heart.

”Hey,” Delores said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “It’ll be okay. You’re the smartest person I know; you can beat this woman.”

”I’m not sure I can,” Five admitted, quietly enough that the others couldn’t hear him.

”I am,” Delores insisted, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being your friend, it’s that given enough time, you can do anything. Once you set your mind to something, you could convince the rain to flow back into the clouds if you wanted.”

Five really wished he had the confidence in himself that she did.

”You know, since your siblings think we’re dating, I should probably give you some advice. Scared you is not going to get the girls. You look like shit. With the expression on your face, I’m half-expecting you to throw up. Are you sure you’re a superhero who can kick someone’s ass?”

Five scoffed, pretending to be offended at the same time as hiding his laugh, “Excuse you, but I look fine even when I’m scared. And I can always kick someone’s ass. Want me to prove it?”

Delores put her hands up, “Challenging the guy who taught me to fight hand to hand? No thanks. I don’t have a death wish.”

Five smirked, feeling a lot better with the lack of tension, “See? I’m always a badass.”

”I stand corrected. All hail the mighty asskicking superhero.”

This time, Five couldn’t stop from laughing, considering she had said it with a completely straight face. Once he started laughing, however, Delores lasted about half a second before she was laughing, too.

He also couldn’t stop himself from thinking about how much he’d missed her laugh.

The mood was shattered suddenly by Diego throwing a black scarf at them, using his power so that it hit Five squarely in the face.

”Are you going to go get dressed like a normal person at any point in time?” The second-to-oldest brother called.

Five shot his siblings an exasperated look before heading for the empty closet of the underground parking garage they were in.

He couldn’t stop thinking about one thing, just praying Delores couldn’t hear him.

He couldn’t stop Delores from getting into his heart, no matter how much either of them might be trying not to let that happen.

And he certainly couldn’t control her.

Maybe it was time to add a redheaded, green-eyed girl to his list of fears. 


	7. Chapter 7

Five crouched behind the bushes, waiting for a shot. He tried not to feel guilty.

It wasn’t like he was _actually_ killing the president. The Commission would come here and stop him. At most, he might be dead for a few minutes.

Luther, no surprise, had been against this plan. The others had been skeptical, too, until Five assured them that he wasn’t really killing anyone. The Commission would make it like it never happened. 

Still, the barrel of Five’s gun shook. He’d only recently started being around people who actually had morals and humanity left in them.

In the beginning of his days as a killer, he never would have admitted he was screaming inside whenever he pulled the trigger. 

But that voice had silenced years ago. It had to, or he wouldn’t have survived. He’d had to harden himself against any emotion. It was the only way to stop from feeling guilty for all the things he’d done.

He couldn’t do that anymore. He was feeling fear that the plan would fail, anger that someone would dare target the people he cared for to get to him, love for his siblings and his best friend...

The Commission could kill him. They could torture him until he broke and pound him into dust. But they were not allowed to touch the people he loved.

He couldn’t think about what he might do—what he might become—if something happened to even one of them. He’d never show he loved them in a conventional way, but he did. He loved his siblings so much that it was agony to think about losing one of them again.

And losing Delores? Five was terrified of the monster that would come out if he lost her.

The barrel of the gun shook harder, as if the rifle could sense Five’s fear.

Then he felt a warm kind of touch in the back of his mind. A familiar presence that only had to be there for him to help him drive the panic away.

He knew Delores was waiting for him, a few blocks away. He had to remind himself that if he didn’t do this, she was dead for sure. If he did, she and everyone else he loved had a chance at survival, no matter how small that chance might be.

Five took a deep breath and steadied his hands. He took the shot.

Even quicker than he expected, the bullet stopped in its path. Another shot went off, shooting the bullet out of the air.

”Thought it’d take you a little longer,” Five admitted. He turned, facing the agent of the organization that chronologically, he probably hadn’t tried to destabilize yet.

That, or, it’d been so long on their end that what he’d done didn’t matter anymore.

The Leviathan wasn’t even trying to hide who she was anymore. She was very clearly not a standard-issue soldier, dressed in a purple operations suit, of sorts. It wasn’t dissimilar to how Diego’s suit looked. Her mask had spikes radiating backwards, holding back dark hair in two braids. 

Oddly, she didn’t look that much older than Five’s body was. Maybe twenty-five at the oldest. How had she gotten in the top six of most kills in Commission history?

”I don’t think we’ve met,” Five said, carefully not making any moves that could be threatening, “I’m Five Hargreeves.”

”Violet.”

It was slightly surprising that she wasn’t making any threatening moves, either.

”Well, Violet,” Five said, “I want a meet with your leader.”

”Circe?” She asked, sounding understandably skeptical, “Why would she do that when we can already find you so easily?”

Five smirked, trying to hide how scared he was, “Because I’m invoking a Trial by Combat.”

”The famous Number Five going all Dark Ages?”

Five could tell she was nervous. Due to the fact that agents of the Commission came from a million different time periods, there were a million different unconventional rules to accommodate those agents. That included a Trial by Combat, which many cultures considered more than fair.

”I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” Five said coldly, “And I still have access to your communication frequencies, so unless you want the rest of the Commission finding out that Circe backed down from a fight, I suggest the next time you find me, it be in the arena.”

Five could see Violet weighing her chances. She knew she couldn’t know for sure if Five really had access to those frequencies. Even if he didn’t, there was always a chance that someone would find out what Five had offered. If Circe backed down, it made all of the Leviathans look weak.

”She can beat you,” Violet said finally, her confidence clear, “So name the time and place.”

”Rooftop of the parking garage we’re currently hiding in,” Five said, “Midnight tonight. I’m sure you’ll find us by then.”

”Oh, we already did,” Violet said sweetly, “It wasn’t hard to sort through your little girlfriend’s hideouts.”

Five felt his stomach drop. They knew about Delores. They knew all her hideouts.

”You keep her out of this,” Five growled, unable to stop himself, “She hasn’t done anything to you.”

The Leviathan laughed, “Oh you have no idea.” She leaned closer, as if sharing a secret with a friend and singsonged in his ear, “Someone’s not who you think she is! You had best choose your friends more carefully, Number Five. That one is going to do nothing but let you down.”

Before Five could respond, she was gone, not even a flash to announce her leaving.

...

Delores kept thinking about how much Five was different. She couldn’t blame him, but he was different.

He’d learned to hide his thoughts and even his emotions in the past years. He wasn’t using his face as a mask of calm anymore, but the calm parts of him that hadn’t existed before.

Delores respected Five enough that she could respect his need for space, but it was the way he was taking that space that worried her.

Before, on the days when he needed space, he’d tell her himself to stay out of his head. He’d known that she couldn’t all the way. That wasn’t how her powers worked. His emotions were so loud that she couldn’t help but feel them. But on the days when he told her to, he’d trust her not to pry in his head any more than her powers forced her to.

And now... now it was different. _He_ was different. Before, Five had been all raw emotion. Anger, pain, love, spite, sadness, excitement, hate... He was a logical person, yes, but the fuel to his fire was always his feelings. He’d been driven to solve every puzzle in the world by how strongly he felt everything. 

Now, there were parts of him that were still emotional, but there were also parts that were... turned off. Those parts weren’t just calm. They were _blank_. They were parts Delores couldn’t sense at all. Parts where Five didn’t to feel anything.

Five taking space was fine. But taking space by forcing himself to feel nothing? That wasn’t him. It shouldn’t be. No one deserved to feel that black void of nothingness.

The fact that the apprehension on the teleporter’s face was more telling than what he was actually feeling told Delores all she needed to know about how worried she should be.

”So one of them showed up?” she asked as they started walking together back towards the safe-house.

”Yeah,” Five muttered, “Circe is coming tonight, so we have until then to get ready.”

”They know where we are?” 

“You could say that.”

Delores didn’t like the tone in his voice.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Five sighed and looked her in the eye, “Delores, they knew how to find us because they knew about  _you_.”

Delores didn’t know what she was supposed to say to that, “Oh.”

”I just told you the most dangerous group of serial killers ever knows who you are,” Five noted, “Why are you not more surprised?”

Delores shrugged, “It was only a matter of time, right? They probably just looked through your past until they found me.”

”I guess,” Five muttered, still not seeming convinced.

Truth be told, Delores had no idea where he was trying to go with this. She considered checking his thoughts to try to make sense of this conversation, but probing too deep inside someone’s mind without consent, _especially_ someone who knew what her touch in their mind felt like, was never a good idea.

“Do you think you’ll be able to freeze her?”

Delores stiffened, “Isn’t that cheating?”

”You sound like Luther,” Five scoffed, “The Leviathans—“

”Won’t be planning on fighting fair, I know,” Delores admitted, “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“But you’ll do it?”

”You know I will.”

Five’s blank slate started to slip aside as he got more anxious, his mind running a million miles a minute all fueled by fear and guilt and anger. Delores was angry enough at the Commission and she had never actually worked for them. Five had been stuck there for years, building up walls to stop himself from not being able to pull the trigger on whoever they told him to. He was haunted by it. Delores hated how there was no way she could save him from the demons still in his head.

”It’ll be okay,” she tried to assure him, “This Circe woman can’t outsmart you. If she could, the Commission would have sent her after you long ago.”

Five shrugged, “I think maybe the Handler didn’t hate me enough long ago. That, and the Leviathans were busy.”

”Yeah, because why would they put a mission on hold to go kill a superpowered nerd who’s outsmarted everything that’s been thrown at him?”

“You really think I can think my way out of this one?”

Delores shrugged, “I think if you can’t, no one can. Plus, I get the feeling that everyone you’re trying to protect is way too stubborn to die, so...”

Just as she’d hoped, the mood lightened a little and a bit of Five’s anxiety faded as he tried to hide a smile.

“So if anybody dies, I should just tell them to walk it off?”

Delores shrugged, “Yeah, they’ll be fine.”

Five’s laugh was the best sound in the world.

...

Even knowing the others were waiting on nearby buildings, ready for the signal to come in and finish it, Five didn’t let his guard down by an inch.

There was a flash of a briefcase transporting someone, and a woman appeared.

A uniform a lot like Violet’s, but black with gold accents, and a simpler mask with no spikes. She had black, curly hair in a ponytail and a dark complexion. She couldn’t be any older than her friend.

Impressive. Completely immoral and super evil, but impressive.

”You called for a Trial by Combat?”

”I did,” Five responded, “And you can tell your friends to stop searching the lower levels for people to use against me. They’re not here.”

Circe chuckled, “Smart. Good. I was afraid your reputation was exaggerated.”

Five stepped into a fighting stance, “Believe everything you’ve ever heard about me.”

Circe didn’t move, “I do.”

Five smirked and blinked behind her. He wouldn’t even need to call for help; the stolen pistol in his waistband would work just fine.

Five barely got his gun out before the nausea hit.

Waves of vertigo swept over him, vision distorting as he swayed on his feet. The rooftop seemed to move under his feet.

Circe turned around with a smirk as Five dropped to his knees.

”What did you think my powers were?” She asked, “When I named myself after one of the most famous sorceresses in mythology.”

Five groaned, trying to focus enough to aim his gun. He couldn’t. 

”The plan worked perfectly,” a male voice said.

The other Leviathans had come to join them. Five saw blurry images of slightly different versions of the same suit. 

“He couldn’t help but fall into your trap,” another voice agreed.

”Sad,” a third said, “He actually thought he stood a chance against one of us by himself.”

Five was finding it harder to move. He still reached for the other gun in his pocket.

The Leviathans only laughed when they saw it. They knew he couldn’t hit any one of them if he tried.

But he didn’t have to hit them to fire a flare gun.

All at once, whoever’s powers had a hold on Five broke out of surprise, and he could see the people he loved responding to the signal.

Luther was jumping from a nearby rooftop, he strength carrying him, Diego, and Allison, and Ben was holding rigid control over his tentacles, not letting that control waver for a moment as he swung himself, Klaus, Vanya, and Delores. 

The second they landed, the Leviathans looked less confident. A couple of them eyed Vanya uncertainly. They had no way of knowing she didn’t have her powers.

”I’m not by myself,” Five grunted, struggling to his feet, “I cheated, too.”

Circe looked a little offended, but Five was more focused on the Leviathan that was moving. 

She was a blond woman with curly hair and a dark, metallic green suit.

And she was stalking right towards Delores.

Five was still out of it enough that he couldn’t use his powers. He couldn’t protect her, and by the confused expression on her face, she was in no position where she could protect herself.

Ben stepped in between them, his open stance warning he could let the monsters under his skin out at any second.

”Don’t come any closer,” he warned.

The Leviathan woman didn’t. She only sneered at Five’s best friend.

”So eager to protect you. He doesn’t know what you really are, does he?”

Delores still looked confused, tilting her head, but she didn’t seem afraid.

”None of them do,” the blonde continued with a laugh that could only be described as evil, “Especially not _him_. You couldn’t tell him. Not when you knew he’d never accept you if he knew what you really were.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Delores’s voice would have sounded calm to anyone else, but Five knew her too well. He knew the fear that was creeping into her voice. She knew something of what the Leviathan was talking about. Five could tell.

The blonde Leviathan leaned just a little bit closer. Ben didn’t move.

”I’ll see you on the floor, _Lavender_.”

Delores looked like she’d been punched in the face. The fear in her eyes changed to outright horror. She looked like her worst nightmare had just come true.

Then, just like in the bushes, there was no flash, no briefcase, but suddenly, the Leviathans weren’t there anymore.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is pretty much just Five and Delores talking. It also tells Delores’s backstory but if you don’t like a lot of talk, you might want to skip this chapter.

“Why did you lie?”

”How do you know that Leviathan?”

”What did she mean by everything she said?”

”Who are you really?”

Delores just sat there as Five’s siblings yelled questions, silently sitting in the chair with one knee pulled up to her chest, just staring into space.

The others were pissed because they thought she was ignoring them, but Five knew her better than that.

He had never seen her look that broken before.

” _Delores_ ,” he thought as loudly as he could.

Her eyes shifting to meet his was the only sign that she was listening.

_”You’re my best friend,”_ Five thought firmly, _“Nothing you say is going to change that.”_

Delores took a deep breath and said something quietly. 

Realizing they couldn’t hear her, the others quieted down as she repeated herself.

”Her name is Chloe. Chloe Nathan.”

Five raised his eyebrows, “But that’s your—“

”My last name, I know.”

”You have a sister?”

Delores nodded solemnly, “But it gets worse than that. She’s one of the 43.”

”There’s only 42 of us,” Luther objected.

”There were 42 miracle _mothers_ ,” Delores corrected, “43 miracle babies.”

”You’re a twin,” Five realized, “Your mom had twins.”

Allison whistled in appreciation, “Jeez, and she kept both of you? My body might be 13, but my mind remembers going through childbirth. I’m just imagining going into childbirth completely unexpectedly, and then getting super-powered twins you never asked for—no offense.”

”None taken,” Delores mumbled, “Yeah, my mom kept us, but...”

Five could tell how uncomfortable she was. He’d never heard how her mom died, but he knew that Delores had loved her a lot. Telling Chloe’s story would mean telling her mom’s, too.

Telling that story to six people she barely knew would be torture for her.

”Guys, why don’t you give us the room?” Five asked.

”I think we need to know this information, too,” Luther objected.

“I think you need to shut up,” Vanya said sharply, “I agree, but I still think you need to shut up.”

”What did I do?” Luther asked incredulously.

Five had no idea what he  _did_ do, but Klaus and Diego started laughing harshly as Vanya glared and Allison knocked him upside the head.

”What did you do?” Vanya growled, her voice dangerous in a way Five had never heard from her before, “You locked me in the soundproof box in our basement!”

”You did _what_?” Five asked sharply.

”It was a little more complicated than that,” Luther objected, “Allison—“

”Told you to let her out,” Allison interrupted, “Don’t make this my fault.”

”You slit her freaking throat, Vanya!”

”I know!” Vanya shouted, “You think I don’t remember? You think I don’t have nightmares where I do it over, and over, and over again and she bleeds out while I can’t do a thing but play my stupid violin until the sky falls down?!”

One of the camping lanterns scattered around the room flew across the room and smashed against the wall less than a foot from Luther’s face.

All of them stared in shock. Vanya was staring in horror.

”Not again,” she whispered before running from the room.

”Vanya!”

Allison followed her without hesitation, which Five had to admire. He remembered the way it felt to have his life force being sucked out by someone he loved. Allison hadn’t had to deal with that, but Vanya had destroyed her voice, and by extension, her powers. Five honestly wasn’t sure if he could have forgiven for something like that.

After only a couple seconds of hesitation, Ben and Klaus exchanged a glance and followed Allison.

Diego followed only after Luther, probably to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

Which left Five alone in the room with his best friend.

He turned to her slowly. He didn’t need to have her powers to know she was more scared than she’d ever been around him, and he knew scared people had a tendency to lash out.

So, Five didn’t make any sudden movements as he crossed the room and crouched down in front of her.

”You can’t tell the others,” he said softly, “Can you tell me?”

Delores didn’t meet Five’s eyes as she responded, her voice barely more than a whisper.

”If I do, you’ll never look at me the same way again.”

”No,” Five insisted, “Nothing could ever change the way I see you.”

Delores took a deep breath and looked Five in the eye, “I always made it seem like my mom was a hero when I told you about her.”

Five didn’t respond, waiting for her to continue.

”She kept two babies she never asked for and she was a great mom. She worked two jobs to make ends meet for twins who started being able to do things they shouldn’t even as toddlers. And her parents kicked her out when they found out she turned down over a million dollars to give us up. She was only 21, living at home while she got a college education. An education she had to give up to take care of us.”

“What happened?” 

Delores sighed, “She had issues. How could she not? The revolving door of boyfriends probably wasn’t a good idea. Sometimes they were nice, sometimes not so much. It’s really no surprise one of them got her addicted to smoking.”

“Is that what killed her?” Five asked.

Delores nodded, “She died of lung cancer when I was 10.”

”When you were 10? Then..?”

”Where was I between then and the first time I met you?”

Five nodded, “Yeah, I mean, we were 13. How would you survive as a kid alone that young, even with your powers?”

Delores shrugged, “I wasn’t alone. I had Chloe. And... well, even before you and your siblings went public, we always figured we couldn’t be the only ones. So I... I reached out. I sat for days, and didn’t move for anything. I just scanned with my mind, farther and farther until I found people like me... and please don’t ask me to search like that for anyone again. It almost killed me the first time.”

Five nodded firmly, “You know I’d never.”

Delores’s eyes got a look Five didn’t recognize, but she continued, “Anyway, I found others. One by one, Chloe and I sought them out, traveling by busses, me turning away any adult who questioned us. We found 5 kids like us with no where else to go. You know. Even after deciding to keep a miracle baby, some of the women decided a super-powered miracle baby was too much work. Some just died. But we found 5 others across America and Canada. Lost kids with no families. Just like us.”

”5 others...” Five realized, “The Leviathans. You were with them. You were one of them.”

Delores pulled her knee closer to her chest, looking hard at her boot, “I told you you’d never look at me the same way again.”

Five stood up suddenly, putting a hand on Delores’s shoulder firmly.

”Move your stupid leg.”

She seemed surprised, but she moved her leg to the floor.

That was when Five hugged her.

It took a few seconds before Delores embraced him back, but she stood up as she did, letting them get closer as if physical contact could solve all their problems.

”I don’t care what you were,” Five said truthfully, trying to fit the angry protectiveness he felt into his words, “I don’t care what you’ve done. Just tell me, please. No more secrets.”

Delores pulled away from him enough to look him in the eye.

She didn’t look afraid or insecure anymore. Just a bit sad.

”We had to steal to survive,” she explained, “We never did big hits, but 7 kids with powers can’t stay under the radar for long. A mob boss found us. He told us we’d never go hungry again if we stole for him. Like idiots, we believed him.”

”Did he hurt you?” Five asked.

Delores gave him a look, and Five had to admit it was a little unlikely. That a human man could have hurt a more than human kid.

Of course, his own experiences were different , but the way he acted, Reginald Hargreeves hadn’t seemed human.

But something was still bothering her about that experience.

”Did you hurt him?” 

Delores shook her head slowly, “Not him. But he kept sending us on bigger and bigger hits. One day, we were robbing a bank and one of the guards got a shot off at Chloe. He didn’t hit her, but I saw where he was aiming, and... I lost it. I reached out with my mind in a way I’d never done before. I tore through his brain like the psychic equivalent of a hurricane.”

”You killed him,” Five realized.

”I was 12. I was 12 and I killed a man.”

Five took a deep breath, “What happened then?”

”I was horrified by what I’d done,” Delores responded, “But the others weren’t. They took it as a sign that it was okay to kill anyone who got in our way. They killed  _so many_ people. The mob boss started sending us to wipe out rival gangs. Every night, we’d come home and wash the blood off our hands, but it never really came off. There was so much... and the worst part was that the others liked it.”

”You didn’t?”

Delores shook her head, “I hated the way the only family I’d had for two years wouldn’t stop taking people from their families. People who were just doing what their bosses told them to do. Even—especially—Chloe. She loved it more than any of them. She couldn’t get enough. So when this creepy, white-haired woman comes to us and offers to let us go through on a killing spree through history, of course she said yes.”

”And of course you couldn’t,” Five guessed, “Right?”

”I begged her not to go,” Delores whispered, “But there wasn’t much of my sister—much of any of them—left to beg. They were all so lost in their manic need to make other people hurt because they were hurting. And I... I let them go. Maybe I should have gone with them.”

”You shouldn’t have,” Five said firmly.

”If I had,” Delores pressed, “Maybe they’d be here now. Maybe I could have made  _one_ of them see reason. But I was _so_ afraid if I followed them down that path, there’d be nothing of me left when it was time to come home.” She shrugged, “But I was lonely. That’s why I jumped at the first sign of more of us and ran straight to them, consequences be damned. It’s why I ran to you.”

Five almost smiled, but something was still bothering him. This explained why Delores had such complete control over her powers when they met, but not why she was so much stronger in only two years. She was still holding something back.

”You saw them again, didn’t you?” he asked, “After I... left.”

It took her a beat to respond.

”It was about a month after. I’d never felt more alone. I’d accepted that you were dead; I couldn’t find you anywhere. I almost reached out to your siblings, but thinking about them reminded me of you. I couldn’t deal with that.”

”The Leviathans took advantage you.”

Delores nodded, “I was an idiot. Thanks to time travel, Chloe was a couple years older than me, but she insisted she was still my sister. She told me her new job was exciting. She showed me how much stronger her powers were, thanks to this super drug she was using.”

Five had heard rumors in the Commission of a drug that could enhance powers. He’d always declined whenever they asked if he wanted some, not trusting the Handler. He’d needed her to trust him, but he wasn’t desperate enough that he would deliberately take a drug he didn’t know for sure what it was. 

Judging by the look on Delores’s face, he was right not to.

”Hanging out with my friends after being alone again was a dream come true,” she said carefully, “I wanted to believe they were telling me the truth, so I took the drug. It did make me stronger—that part was true, and it was permanent—but that wasn’t what it was really meant to do.”

Delores took a deep breath, trying to hide the signs that Five could already see of a budding panic attack.

He knew that feeling all too well. The feeling of stifling his emotions and shoving them deep when he didn’t have time to deal with them so he could make a kill or keep someone believing he wasn’t bothered by what they said. Five knew it wasn’t healthy, but he’d never been able to let himself stop. Growing up, he’d watched each of his siblings break down at some point, crying and struggling to breathe as panic surged through them. Five had gotten scared, sure. Angry, definitely. But he had never let himself crack. Never let himself cry in front of anyone. He’d always had to be strong, because if he didn’t, who would?

Delores was the exact same way. She had never cried in front of Five. Actually, she’d never gotten really angry or scared in front of him, either. 

Five wished she trusted him enough to break in front of him. But he knew that the walls built up to keep bad emotions down weren’t easy to break. He was still working on his own.

”What else does the drug do?” Five asked gently.

Delores took another deep breath, “It’s temporary, and it doesn’t control you, exactly.”

”Shit,” Five muttered under his breath. Wherever this was going couldn’t be good.

”It just makes you more compliant. Killing someone doesn’t seem so bad because your inhibitions just aren’t there. Your moral compass is pulled out and you feel like whatever you do will have no consequences.”

”Who did you kill?” Five asked.

”Some politician,” she responded, “Chloe needed him dead, but she couldn’t kill his guards. Apparently after his death, they go on to form some secret task force.”

”Making you the perfect girl for the job,” Five guessed grimly, “You could slip past them and not let them question you.”

”When we were a gang of robbers, we came up with code names for fun,” Delores said, “I was Lavender, because I looked weaker than any of them. And lavender is known for being calming, like I can force people to be. The others always liked to blame everything on their code names. They told me that I didn’t kill anyone. _Lavender_ did. They’re crazy. They wanted me to come with them, but I decided I’d rather be alone than live a drugged killer with people who can’t even accept what they’ve done.”

Five didn’t really know what to say. Who _would_  know what to say to that?

Delores tried for a shaky smile, “So, that’s the part of my story I never told you. I’m sorry for not being the person you thought I was.”

Five shrugged, “Why, because you’ve killed some people? I have, too. Each of my siblings killed at least one person on a mission over the years. Even Vanya’s killed a guy; you’re not special.”

Delores laughed a little, and Five tried to pretend like he wasn’t dreading the day he would have to tell her about all the things he wasn’t proud of. 

There were a few seconds of silence before Five forced himself to ask.

”You knew them. What are their powers?”

Delores shrugged, “Aubrey—Violet—she’s probably the least dangerous. She can stretch and compress the wavelengths of light to make you see things. Occasionally, she can also hide things, but not for long.”

Five nodded, “Okay.”

”Jason—Phoenix—can dissolve himself into fire. He can’t shoot or control it, but while he’s in his fire form, bullets go through him. All he has to do to hurt you is touch you— the angrier he gets, the hotter he burns.”

“Quang is called Lost Boy. He manipulates gravity fields; mostly uses it to make himself light enough to float.”

“Daniel goes by Lark. He has these big, feathered wings he can fold into a pocket dimension and call when needed. He also has fangs with this nasty hallucinatory venom and a monkey tail, but he doesn’t really use those.”

“Blast is really Rose. She can manifest weapons out of no where, but she has this weird affinity big guns or cannons.”

She took a deep breath, and Five knew who she was going to name next.

”And Chloe... well, she induces vertigo. She messes with your inner ear, I think. I’m not sure. But it can go anywhere from just making you nauseous to making you so dizzy you can’t see straight. She was always probably the most dangerous of any of us. She can make it impossible for you to fight back.”

”Wait, _she’s_ the vertigo girl?” Five asked, realizing, “She’s Circe?”

”Yeah,” Delores replied, seeming confused, “She was always obsessed with Greek mythology.”

”They tried to trick me into thinking the dark-skinned woman was Circe.”

Delores was silent for a second, realizing what Five meant.

”That was Rose. But this means they don’t know you know the truth.”

Five smirked, “We have an advantage now. They’ll think they can still trick us.”

Delores smirked right back, “Trust my sister to not think her plans all the way through.”

”Now we just have to find her,” Five muttered, his mind racing, “All we have to do is find the Leviathans.”

Delores snorted, “Oh, that’s easy. I know exactly where they are.”

”Really? How?”

”Chloe gave me a calling card. She wants me to find her.”

”So where is she?”

Delores made a face, “You’re not going to like it.”

”Try me,” Five insisted. Even if it was a trap, the two of them now had a hand to play. He had something to work with. Now, sitting still was driving him crazy.

Delores still had that look on her face as she answered.

”How’s your dancing?”


End file.
